


draw my future

by bluecalicocat



Series: young, dumb and in love [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3racha produce music together, Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Romance, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Han Jisung | Han & Hwang Hyunjin are Best Friends, Han Jisung | Han-centric, Humor, Lee Minho | Lee Know & Seo Changbin are Best Friends, Lee Minho | Lee Know-centric, M/M, Meet-Cute, References to Depression, Strangers to Lovers, but it gets serious later, it's minor though, kinda???, may look like crack at first glance, minsung move into the same dorm, strangers to friends to lovers actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-16 06:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21503044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluecalicocat/pseuds/bluecalicocat
Summary: “Uh”, Jisung says, “not to sound like I don’t want you here, but why did you decide to sit next to me when there’s almost an entire lecture hall of empty seats?”“Oh!” Minho had nearly forgotten about that part. “You’re sitting in my place.”When all Jisung does is stare at him, Minho continues. “Or, you know, not my seat, but the seat where I usually sit. I’ve sat there for literally every lecture this entire semester. Why didyoudecide to sit there today?”-Minho starts talking to Jisung because he's wearing a pikachu onesie, not expecting the relationship that follows, but sometimes the unexpected is the best you could ever ask for
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Series: young, dumb and in love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565239
Comments: 33
Kudos: 532





	1. Chapter 1

The first thing Minho notices after entering the lecture hall is that the seat he’s been sitting in for the entire semester has been taken.

It takes his sleep-deprived brain a few seconds to catch up to this fact, and when it finally does, he stops halfway up the steps on his way toward the back where he usually sits. Not only is his seat taken, but it’s taken by a guy wearing a bright-yellow onesie. It almost hurts his eyes to look at.

Minho gives a small shake of his head before continuing to the back, too out of it to figure out another place to sit. He’ll just sit next to whoever that yellow onesie-wearing dude is. It’ll be fine.

Upon getting closer to the boy in question, Minho realizes that the item of clothing isn’t just a regular onesie. It’s actually pikachu themed.

He puts his stuff down by the seat next to the unnamed guy, causing him to look up from where he’s been staring at an open book on his lap. A notebook, Minho notices.

When the guy looks up at Minho who’s already staring at him, their eyes meet, which startles Minho slightly.

He sits down next to the guy carefully. Since they’ve already had eye contact, he figures that he has to start a conversation so that this doesn’t get awkward.

“Why are you wearing a pikachu onesie?”

Nice start, Minho thinks, mentally rolling his eyes at himself.

The guy doesn’t seem offended or anything. Not that he really has the right to be, consider he’s the one who’s shown up to their lecture dressed like this.

“My friends didn’t think I would dare wear it in public for an entire day and they’re _wrong_.”

At this, Minho snorts. He turns his head to look at the boy again, getting a better view of what he actually looks like now that he’s not scared of getting caught staring, or being distracted by the whole outfit.

His eyes are honest-looking, and he has cheeks that Minho would really like to poke, but even as early as nine in the morning, enough of his impulse control is awake and can stop him from doing so.

It hits him that he still doesn’t have a name for pikachu-guy, so he opens his mouth again to ask.

“Uh, sorry, I forgot to ask for your name.”

Minho leans back in his chair as he watches the boy give a small smile. And _ohmygosh it’s shaped like a heart that’s adorable_.

“I’m Jisung. And you…?”

“Minho.”

Minho tilts his head to the side after responding, deciding to ask what he’s been thinking about since he laid eyes on the other.

“Why haven’t I seen you before?”

The boy, Jisung, grins before responding.

“Probably cause I haven’t been dressed like pikachu before”, he says, which honestly makes a lot of sense. There are lots of people in this lecture that Minho hasn’t noticed before. If they showed up wearing a pikachu onesie, Minho is certain they would stand out to him just a bit more than usual.

“Uh”, Jisung continues, “not to sound like I don’t want you here, but why did you decide to sit next to me when there’s almost an entire lecture hall of empty seats?”

“Oh!” Minho had nearly forgotten about that part. “You’re sitting in my place.”

When all Jisung does is stare at him, Minho continues. “Or, you know, not my seat, but the seat where I usually sit. I’ve sat there for literally every lecture this entire semester. Why did _you_ decide to sit there today?”

Jisung makes a grimace, and Minho thinks that the boy seems to make a lot of facial expressions. It’s quite interesting to see, since it’s like you can sense all his thoughts and feelings just from a quick glance at his face. He’s seems very open.

“So, you see, it all started when my best friend Felix started talking about the pikachu onesie. And then I realized I can’t sit in the front where I usually sit, not when I’m dressed like this.”

“Why not?” Minho asks. “I think you’re gonna get attention regardless of where you sit, if that’s what this is about.”

“No, no, it’s not that.” Jisung grins again. “I just don’t wanna be distracting to people.”

Minho has to admit that it makes sense, since everyone would be able to see him if he had been sitting in the front. He’s also less likely to be noticed by the teacher here in the back.

Even though Minho doesn’t get to sit in the seat he usually sits, he’s strangely at peace with that fact. He’s strangely at peace with _Jisung_. The boy, distracting as his outfit may be, seems like a pretty chill person throughout the lecture that starts as soon as the professor arrives. He keeps scribbling in his notebook, presumably to take notes, and doesn’t bother Minho, which the older is glad for since it allows him to focus on what the professor is saying.

When the lecture finishes an hour later, Jisung speaks up for the first time in a while.

“Uhm, did you get the notes?” he asks. Minho, who’s halfway out of his seat, furrows his brows.

“Weren’t you taking notes the entire time?”

It seemed like he was, or at least Minho thought so, but maybe Jisung wasn’t writing. Or maybe he was writing other stuff? Minho doesn’t know.

Instead of answering, Jisung turns his notebook to Minho, and the older has to hold back a gasp. Those definitely aren’t notes, but the ink that fills the page creates such a beautiful picture that Minho can’t even bring himself to scold the boy for it.

The drawing shows the face of a boy. There’s not really any proof for it in the picture, but the boy seems sad, with closed eyes and a blank expression. Behind one of his ears, there’s a flower that covers part of the boy’s temple.

“It’s just a scribble…” Jisung mumbles. “But it made me forget that I’m supposed to take notes.”

“Give me your phone”, Minho snaps out of his daze. Jisung raises his eyebrows slightly, but doesn’t say anything, simply reaches into his pocket before unlocking it and holding the phone out for Minho.

The older takes it and goes to his contacts, pressing the plus-symbol to make a new one. He quickly enter his number and sets the contact name to “cute guy minho”, then sends himself a text so that he’ll have Jisung’s number as well.

The younger watches what he’s doing over his shoulder, and once Minho is done sending the next, he takes his phone, which Minho hands back over to him.

“Thank”, Jisung’s says with a small smile. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you.”

“See you”, Minho replies. He watches as Jisung grabs his backpack and the now closed notebook, neither of them paying much attention to all the stares Jisung is getting.

For a second, Minho actually forgets all about what Jisung is wearing and starts to wonder why so many people are turning their heads, but when he does remember, he wants to slap himself. Obviously.

Jisung walks down the stairs quickly, and after a few moments, Minho is just another one in the crowd of people watching as the boy makes his way out the lecture hall.

Well, that’s a unique first meeting.

-

“Hyung.”

Minho turns away from the homework in front of him with a hum, eyes landing on Changbin who’s just walked up to where he’s seated by a table in the library. He’s alone, which is surprising since he said that he was going to be producing music all afternoon with the other two producers he usually hangs out with.

“I’m not here, actually”, Minho speaks when it seems Changbin is waiting for some verbal sign that the older is listening. At this reply, the producer raises his eyebrows. “Yeah, really. This is just a projection. From… Antarctica. Yeah, I moved there recently.”

Changbin snorts and pulls out a chair, sitting down at the table where Minho is sitting without bothering to dignify the other with a response to that bullshit.

“Okay, let me know when you get back from Antarctica, cause when you do, I have a suggestion regarding the roommate situation.”

Minho does not perk up at this. As a matter of fact, Changbin has already found him several people that would be interested in sharing a dorm room with him, but the thing is, his suggestions so far have all been bad. Terrible, actually.

After all, the major reason why Minho is looking for someone to dorm with is because he doesn’t like living on his own, and that first guy Changbin had introduced him to was not talkative. Like, not at all. He introduced himself, and that was all he said. Sure, the dude is probably a great person in other ways, but he’s just not the type Minho is looking for.

The second guy smelled too strongly of pot, and the third just generally seemed like a perv.

Yeah, forgive him for not having the highest expectations on this new suggestion.

His hesitance must be showing on his face, cause Changbin jokingly puts his hands up.

“Okay, wow, you don’t have to be so excited about it.”

Minho rolls his eyes and closes the notebook in front of him, figuring that he’s not going to get any more work done after this. Whatever he’s been studying previously isn’t sticking to his mind, anyway.

“Sorry for not jumping at the opportunity to meet another weirdo who just wants to grow weed in the bathroom or go through my underwear drawer at first best opportunity.”

Changbin furrows his brows.

“I don’t think weed would grow too well in a bathroom, there’s not enough light…” He trails off upon seeing Minho’s unimpressed expression. “Okay, sorry, I know. Not your point. But this guy is definitely not like those other ones, I swear.”

“Oh yeah? Maybe he’s a nude artist.”

Changbin snorts.

“I can promise you Jisung isn’t a nude artist, hyung. He’s one of the guys I make music with. His personality is a bit weird, but he doesn’t smoke and he’s definitely no perv. Also, he talks. A lot. Too much.”

It takes a few moments for Minho to make the connection, but when he does, he wants to slap someone. Not sure where that instinct is coming from.

He looks up from the table and meets Changbin’s expectant gaze, which makes him want to roll his eyes again, but he doesn’t.

“Wait, is this Jisung wearing a pikachu onesie today?” Minho asks in a serious tone. Changbin raises his eyebrows with an expression that shows how weirded out he is by that question, but he brings his phone up and taps a few times, hopefully not to ignore Minho’s question. When he looks up again, Minho gives him a pointed stare.

“Uh…” Changbin glances down at his screen, tapping once before looking up with a grin. “I have no idea why, but yes, he is. How did you know?”

Minho leans back in his seat. That gives him a lot to think about. Jisung seems like a nice person, definitely better than any of the ones Changbin has suggested so far. They’ve already met, so there will be no awkward introductions for them to go through, but that also means that if Minho says yes to this, then it will happen for sure. Before, he could agree to meet the people Changbin suggested without meaning that he was actually agreeing to live with them.

But, since he and Jisung have already met, the only decision to make is if they should be roommates or not.

“Hello? Minho hyung? You still here, or is the projection glitching?” Changbin asks, grabbing Minho’s shoulder and shaking him gently.

The older turns his annoyed eyes to Changbin, which makes him let go immediately, holding his hands up in surrender, though he’s still grinning.

“Yes, the projection is glitching”, he deadpans. “Now tell me where Jisung is so that he can tell me why he’s looking for someone to room with and confirm that you’re not just making this up.”

“His parents are moving to-…”

“Shh!” Minho holds a hand in front of Changbin’s face, stopping him from speaking further, and also causing the younger to widen his eyes. “Thanks, but I want him to tell me himself. That just seems more polite than talking about him behind his back.”

Minho lowers his hand, and Changbin shrugs.

“It’s not really a secret, but sure, he can tell you himself. Though I still don’t get how you two know each other.”

“We don’t”, Minho says simply, starting to put away the books he has on the table as he speaks. “I met him for the first time today. We only talked because he was sitting in the seat where I always sit.”

Changbin stares at him.

“So you approached him to tell him why he should stay away from your chair?” he assumes.

Minho makes an offended expression.

“Excuse me, I did not, I would never!” He ignores Changbin’s small whisper of _“you definitely would”_ and continues. “No, I just asked why he was wearing a pikachu onesie, and why he was sitting in my seat. I didn’t tell him to move or anything.”

The answer seems to satisfy Changbin, and Minho stands up from the chair, now with his bag over his shoulder.

“So, where is Jisung?”

Changbin grins at him.

-

Turns out Jisung is exactly where Minho should have expected him to be, considering Changbin did tell him that Jisung is one of the guys he makes music with: In one of the production studios.

Changbin enters first, intending to announce their presence, but none of the two people in the room look up as the door opens, both of them too caught in their work to notice.

A boy with curly blonde hair is sitting in front of the computer, headphones over his ears, tapping his fingers against the desk to music only he can hear. The other person is curled up on the couch with a notebook on his lap. Minho recognizes him immediately.

“Guys”, Changbin says, stopping in the middle of the room to try and get their attention. Jisung, despite not having any headphones on, doesn’t look up at the sound of his voice. At least the blond boy has the excuse of not being able to hear him.

“Hey Jisung”, Minho speaks up, and at this, Jisung looks up so fast that the older thinks he must have snapped his neck.

In the background, Changbin mutters something that sounds suspiciously much like _“disrespectful little brat”_ , but both Minho and Jisung tune him out. First, they only stare at each other, but then Jisung scrambles up from the couch and walks up to where he’s still standing right inside the door.

“Should we go talk outside?” Jisung asks, and Minho gives a nod.

The person in front of the computer hasn’t even noticed that they’re there by the time Jisung turns to open the door again, holding it open for Minho before following the older outside.

“I didn’t know you knew Changbin”, Minho comments, mostly because he doesn’t really have anything to say as they walk to the building’s exit.

“Yeah, he doesn’t have a lot of friends, but at the same time, it seems like he knows everyone. I met him in elementary school.”

“That’s a long time. I only know him since we were paired together for the dorms at the start of freshman year.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re looking for someone to dorm with now?” Jisung asks. Minho looks at the younger in surprise, not having expected him to make the connection so quickly. The other boy notices his expression and hurries to explain himself. “It’s just, I remember that he got his own place recently, so I figured that’s why’re looking for someone now instead of at the start of the semester.”

“Yeah”, Minho confirms as they reach the doors.

It’s pretty cold out, but both of them have their jackets, and it only truly gets cold if you stay out for a longer period of time.

They both seem to simultaneously decide to head for the benches that can be found to the side of this building, not even having to say anything to each other but heading in the same direction anyway.

“So, Changbin started saying something about why you’re looking for a dorm now, but I kinda didn’t let him since I thought you could tell me yourself. So, why are you looking for someone now instead of when school started?”

“I’ve been able to live at home, but now my parents are moving to Malaysia”, Jisung tells him. “I told Changbin hyung I wanted to find someone to dorm with since I don’t wanna get randomly paired with a stranger. I mean, you’re basically a stranger as well, but I wanted to at least have a say in it.”

That makes sense.

The pair of them reach the benches, sitting down next to each other before Minho turns his face to Jisung.

“So you’re down to move into my dorm?” Minho asks, mostly for confirmation, since everything the younger has said so far is pointing to that outcome.

Jisung nods with a small grin on his face.

“I mean, Changbin hyung almost made me move in with a guy that’s always smoking weed over by the dumpsters behind the cafeteria, before Chan hyung found out and stopped us. At first, hyung didn’t even want me to meet you, cause he thought you’d be another one of Changbin’s weirdos.”

This makes Minho snort. It definitely sounds like Changbin, and the guy Jisung describes sounds suspiciously much like the person Changbin had introduced Minho to a while back.

“Changbin could make a career out of this…” Minho mutters before glancing up at Jisung. “I swear, he always has someone he’s trying to set up in some way.”

The younger boy agrees.

It’s not until now that Minho actually notices what Jisung is wearing, or rather, what he’s not wearing anymore.

“You’ve changed out of your pikachu onesie”, he comments, his eyebrows slightly raised. “I thought you made a bet.”

“Yeah, I did.” Jisung looks at him with surprise in his eyes. Minho’s not sure why, but he assumes the other boy hadn’t expected him to remember the details about it. “But it’s four pm, I don’t have any other lectures, and Felix and Hyunjin already have proof that I wore it to every class today.”

Minho doesn’t remember the names, but figures that they have to be the best friends he was talking about in their lecture this morning.

Trying to get back to the topic they came here to talk about, Minho clears his throat. Well, that certainly makes it seem serious.

“So, are you already sure you wanna move in? Do you wanna go look at the dorm first, or something..?” he trails off, not really sure how they’re supposed to settle this. Jisung has to see the place first, right? Not that it’s any different from any other dorm room on campus, but Jisung’s mentioned that he doesn’t live on campus at the moment, so he might want to see it. Besides, he should visit before moving in, right? Minho’s really not sure how to do this.

Jisung only continues to grin.

“Nah”, he says, catching Minho off-guard with the reply. “All the dorms here look the same anyway, right? Most of my friends live there and I’ve visited plenty of times. I can move in any time. Though, my parents leave on Saturday, so I’m kinda in a hurry to get out.”

“Saturday”, Minho repeats. Today is a Tuesday, so that’s not a long time from now. A few days. It seems like Jisung’s been procrastinating this whole thing with finding someone he can live with. “Could you move in on Friday, then? I only have one lecture that day and it finishes at, like, one or something. Does Friday afternoon work?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so.”

With that, they both look at each other. Jisung is smiling his heart-shaped smile again, and it makes Minho feel some type of way. He can’t put it into words.

If it’s a bad idea to move in with someone you’ve only met twice, then this is probably a horrible decision, but Jisung is a genuinely nice person and even though they don’t know each yet, Minho wouldn’t mind getting to know him. Besides, if Changbin can spend six hours or so locked in a studio with this guy everyday, then he can’t be that insufferable.

Minho is kind of looking forward to this.

-

Apparently, that Tuesday morning lecture is the only thing they have together, because Minho doesn’t see Jisung much the following days. They text a few times, most conversations initiated by Jisung to ask more about the move, but other than that, it’s not a lot. Minho even has time to become uncertain about if this is the right decision, if Jisung is a person he can actually get along with.

They’ve been fine so far, but _so far_ only includes two conversations, one of which started because Jisung was wearing a pikachu onesie and sitting in the back of the lecture hall.

He sees the younger in the hallway a few times, surrounded by other people that Minho doesn’t recognize. They actually say hello when they do, and Jisung even smiles at him. For some stupid reason that Minho can’t even begin to explain, this is enough for him to stop doubting the decision and just roll with it. Jisung is moving in, they’ll become friends or something, and that’s it. Nothing to stress over.

His exam in psychology, on the other hand, that’s something to stress over. That’s why he’s currently sitting on the living room floor with notebooks and textbooks scattered all around him, pens and colorful markers spread out across the carpeted floor. Psychology is an interesting subject, but that doesn’t mean he feels any better about taking a test on it. Minho has always hated those.

He briefly finds himself wondering if Jisung is in a similar situation right now. After all, psychology seems to be the one subject they have in common, so they both have to study for it.

The alarm on his phone goes off, signaling that it’s been another twenty minutes, and Minho rubs a hand over his face as he sighs. He’s happy to have found a study technique that works for him, but it doesn’t make him any less stressed out. The only way for that to go away will be once he’s actually taken the test and realizes that it’s not so hard.

He reaches for his phone and turns off the alarm, looking at the time. It’s been a bit more than an hour since he started his first twenty-minute shift of studying. Between each shift, he takes a break before starting the next, giving himself some time to breathe and try to relax, though he’s mostly scrolling through instagram or opening snapchats.

This time when he looks at his phone, he has two new messages from Jisung.

 **jisung** : hey hyung, are you busy? i just realized we haven’t ever actually hung out together and i’m moving in with you tomorrow  
**jisung** : do you maybe wanna get coffee or smth?

Minho closes his textbook quickly and types out a reply, not even having to think about the answer. He’s been studying for a while now, and getting to know Jisung a bit better before he moves in sounds like a pretty good idea.

Leaving all the books and pens on the floor, Minho gets up to find something to change into, since he doesn’t really feel like going out in sweatpants, even though he doesn’t think Jisung would judge him for it. No, not in the slightest. The reason they met in the first place is because Jisung was wearing a onesie to class, so he’s in no position to judge.

Still. Minho wants to at least pretend to be put together, so he exchanges his sweatpants for a pair of jeans before leaving.

-

The café Jisung suggests is only a ten minute walk from the dorms. According to his message, the younger boy is already there, so Minho looks for him as soon as he’s inside the café.

It has a cozy atmosphere, and there aren’t that many people inside.

The first Minho notices when his eyes find Jisung in the back of the room is that the boy is wearing glasses. Just some thin frames, but somehow, he looks _really freaking good_ in them. Not that he doesn’t look good otherwise, but Minho hasn’t paid attention to it before now.

The younger boy looks up before Minho has time to prepare himself, and when he spots the older, he smiles and Minho has to try very hard not to start acting like a complete fool. He somehow remembers to smile back at the boy before heading over toward where Jisung is seated.

“Hey hyung”, the boy greets once he’s close enough. Minho notices that he already has a cup in front of him, so he’s probably ordered already.

“Hi”, Minho returns the greeting with another small smile. He dumps his jacket on the chair opposite Jisung before continuing. “I’m just gonna go order, be right back.”

Jisung nods and Minho turns around, definitely not thinking about how cute the younger boy is or how fucking good those glasses make him look. Definitely not.

He’s feeling pretty tired from all the studying, so he gets a coffee. While waiting for the barista to make it, Minho catches her glancing across the cafe at Jisung for just a second too long, seemingly interested in the boy.

She must have noticed that Minho is here with him, and she must also be pretty bold, because when the girl hands over his coffee, she asks,

“Do you know if that boy is seeing anyone?”

Minho, being Minho, doesn’t give her a satisfying answer.

“Oh, yeah, he actually sees a lot of people. Don’t let those glasses fool you. His visual problems aren’t that serious.”

The girl only has time to blink once before Minho is walking back toward Jisung’s table with the cup of coffee in his hand. Back at the table, Jisung is scrolling through his phone while waiting for the older to come back, oblivious to whatever just happened over by the counter.

He notices Minho when he gets nearer and looks up.

“Hi”, he says again, and Minho giggles on the inside.

“You already said that”, he comments as he pulls out the chair to sit down. The other simply grins at that, his heart-shaped mouth making him look even cuter.

“I could say it again if you want.”

“Oh no, you’re good, I think saying hello twice is enough.”

Minho lifts his cup to drink, and at the same time realizes how strangely casual this whole thing is. Considering he’s only met Jisung a handful of times, all in the past week, he probably shouldn’t be as comfortable as he is. They’re essentially strangers.

“Too bad. I would’ve done it.” Jisung takes a sip of his own drink. “So, uh, were you doing anything before I texted?”

“If this is you trying to ask if you interrupted anything, then no. I was just studying for our psychology test.”

Jisung makes a grimace at this, leading Minho to believe the younger is in a similar situation as himself: Not excited for the test. Most people aren’t, after all.

“Cool. I love psychology”, Jisung says then, and Minho can’t tell if he’s being serious or not, considering he just grimaced at the mention of the subject. Maybe the younger picks up on Minho’s confusion, because he speaks again, his eyes on Minho the entire time. “I actually mean that. It’s a nice subject, I just don’t like being tested on it.”

“Same.”

There’s a painting on the wall behind Jisung, and it catches Minho’s attention the second he looks up above the boy’s head. It a landscape painting, but in a surreal kind of way. The sky is lilac, and the ground is covered in snow that somehow reflects shimmering colors that make up some mix of different pastels. Minho stares for a few moments.

“They have nice paintings here”, Jisung comments, reminding Minho of the fact that he should be talking to the person that invited him here, not completely ignore him in favor of staring at the pretty paintings.

“Yeah”, Minho agrees, letting himself stare for one more moment before turning back to Jisung. “Not as pretty as you, though.”

He has no idea why he just said that. Honestly, Minho was not planning on speaking the words that just came out of his mouth, but then he sees Jisung blushing, and maybe it’s not the worst thing he’s said. Not when it makes the younger react like this.

“Stop being cheesy.” Jisung hides his face behind his hands.

“Why? Who doesn’t like cheese?” Minho argues back jokingly, a grin on his face the entire time. Not to try and be annoying, but Jisung is a fun person to tease.

Jisung peeks at him from behind his hands as he says that, eyebrows raised.

“Lots of people, actually.”

“Oh, yeah? Do you not like cheese?”

“I mean, I do, but…” Jisung seems to decide to leave it at that, because he doesn’t finish the sentence. Instead, he grins at the boy opposite him. “Hyung, what kind of music do you like?”

The change of topic catches him slightly off-guard, but it doesn’t halt their conversation for more than a second.

Turns out talking to Jisung is as easy as talking to his other friends. Conversation flows smoothly for the entire time they’re in the little cafe, and when they both decide to pack up and leave about an hour later, Minho feels a lot more sure about Jisung moving in with him tomorrow.

He hopes the other boy feels the same, because it seems like they could become great friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy the story so far! i already have the whole thing finished, i just need to edit the other chapters, but i think they can be posted pretty soon :)


	2. Chapter 2

Maybe moving out should be a bigger deal than this, because Jisung doesn’t really feel anything special as he gets his suitcase out through the front door without even saying goodbye to his parents. They’ll see each other one more time before they have to leave for the airport, and even though Jisung is not looking forward to having breakfast with them both tomorrow, he knows he’ll get to say his goodbyes then.

Walking to the dorms from his house doesn’t take long. After all, he lives close enough that he can walk to college everyday, and the dorms are placed between his house and the actual school buildings.

Finding the right dorm is a bit trickier. Minho has mentioned that the elevator never works, so Jisung has three flights of stairs to get up on his own.

When he finally finds the right floor, he has to take out his phone to double check what number it is, which is when he sees a new text message from Minho, as well as one from Changbin.

Minho says he has to stay later in class to fix something with a project he’s working on. Jisung is fully prepared to just slide down the wall and stay on the floor of this hallway indefinitely, but then he reads Changbin’s message.

 **Changbin** : when you get to minho’s, you can just walk straight inside, the door is unlocked

Well, that’s controversial, Jisung thinks as carries his bag over to the door with Minho’s number on it, room 4419.

He reaches out a hand to try the door and, despite Changbin’s message, expects to find it locked. That’s why he’s surprised to see it open.

The first thing he notices as the door opens up is the wooden floor on the other side. Jisung stares at it in silence for a few seconds, not really sure if he’s supposed to enter when Minho isn’t here. Probably not, right?

“Sungie! Come in!” a voice that sounds very much not like Minho calls out.

A second later, Changbin comes into view, heading toward Jisung and the open door.

“Hyung?” Jisung questions, stepping inside now that it becomes clear he’s not going to get accused for breaking in. At least it wasn't his idea. “Wha… I thought Minho hyung was still in class?”

“He is, but I stole his keys earlier today because you can’t trust his time management skills, and I figured you’d wanna be let into the dorm.”

Jisung really doesn’t know what to do with that, so he nods.

“So you’ve just been hanging here alone?” Jisung asks. Changbin grins at him.

“Not alone.”

“Hey Jisungie!” another familiar voice shouts half a second later.

Honestly, Jisung shouldn’t have had any expectations on how this would go, not when his friends are weird as fuck and love getting involved in other’s business. He should have figured they would be here.

“Hello, Chan hyung”, Jisung responds when Chan appears behind the producer. Of course they’re here. Why wouldn’t they be?

With an internal sigh, Jisung steps through the door and lets his dumb hyungs show him through his dorm. He hopes Minho won’t be upset about them practically breaking in, but doesn’t really consider it his problem. After all, he's not the one who stole the keys.

-

Minho feels bad about being late. It’s only twenty minutes or so, but Jisung doesn’t have his own keys to the dorm yet, so the younger must be bored.

Seeing the front door standing wide open is not what he’s expecting to find when he gets up to his floor. He actually has to stop when he sees it, trying to remember if there’s any reason why his door would be open.

Minho feels his pockets for the dorm keys, but doesn’t find any, which would be worrying to most people. Not to him, though. By now, he has his suspicions about what has happened, and it wouldn't be the first time.

The place is surprisingly quiet as he steps in through the door and pulls it closed behind him. Minho doesn’t say anything, but he can hear some talking coming from the living room. He recognizes Changbin’s voice in a second. With an internal sigh, Minho walks to that room, stopping in the door frame to take in the sight of what’s going on.

Changbin is sitting on the couch with Jisung in his lap, looking pretty stuck in his hyung’s arms. A blond guy is sitting on the carpeted floor in front of them, the producer that Minho’s pretty sure is named Chan.

The blond is the only one who notices Minho coming, but when he lifts his head, the other two do the same.

Jisung smiles widely at him, trying to lift his arm to wave but failing since Changbin is still holding onto him, and the rapper whose lap he’s sitting on widens his eyes at the sight of Minho. The dancer simply raises his eyebrows at them.

Chan stands up.

“I tried to tell Changbin that he shouldn’t break into your dorm, but he wouldn’t listen”, the boy explains. Minho makes a face.

“Sounds like something he’d do”, Minho says, and it doesn’t escape his notice how Jisung snorts at that. “Actually, I think this is the third time he’s done it. Seriously. If someone ever steals my keys for real, I’m not gonna notice because I’m just gonna assume it was Changbin.”

Changbin doesn’t even look offended.

“Maybe you should keep better track of your keys”, he comments, and if he had been sitting within reach, Minho definitely would have smacked his head.

“Thanks for your input. Now, let go of Jisung so that I can show him his room.”

“Changbin-ah, come on”, Chan calls, already turning to walk toward the door. “We have the studio booked the entire afternoon, plus Minho and Jisung should have some time to get settled without us disturbing them.”

Changbin reluctantly lets go of the younger boy in his lap, and with the way the boy flies up from his grasp, you could have thought he’s been fighting to get free for a lot longer than he has. He then stills and watches as Changbin gets up, following Chan out to the door after giving Jisung a look that Minho can’t read. The younger flips him off, so Minho assumes that they’ve been talking about something.

As the two producers leave, Minho turns to Jisung.

“Sorry for being late”, he starts, because even though there was someone here to let him into the place, it’s still Minho’s fault for being late.

“It’s fine”, Jisung says. He seems to mean it. “You weren’t that late, and I didn’t even have to wait in the hallway.”

That’s true, Minho supposes.

“Okay. Your room, then.” There are two bedrooms on either side of the dorm, one that you find opposite the living room opening. That’s Minho’s room. The other bedroom is on the other side of the living room.

Jisung follows as Minho takes the few steps toward the door to his room, but then Minho stays back and lets Jisung open it himself.

It’s not a lot. A bed, a bookshelf and a desk with an uncomfortable chair in front of it. Minho watches Jisung’s expression as he takes it in, and is honestly kind of surprised by how pleased Jisung seems with it.

“These windows are great”, he comments, not looking at the older.

Minho hasn’t really considered that before, but he assumes that it’s true, now that he thinks about it. You can see the rest of campus spreading out all the way to the actual school buildings a bit further away. Surrounding the area are different streets, city buildings and busy sidewalks. The grass field in the middle of their college campus is a nice contrast to the modern city around them, with its trees and smaller walking paths.

Jisung glances at Minho, and the older speaks up.

“You should probably unpack, and I have an assignment I should have started with about a week ago”, he says, and the younger boy smiles.

“Procrastinator.”

Minho settles for the very mature option of sticking his tongue out at Sungie, a gesture the other boy is quick to return, before leaving the room so that Jisung can do what he’s supposed to.

It feels a bit strange to know that there’s someone else in here. Obviously, Minho is used to sharing this dorm with someone, but he’s used to that person being Changbin, someone he’s known since the start of college. It’s not even weird in a bad way, it’s just… Weird. Minho will get used to it after some time, but right now, as he picks out the anatomy worksheet he should have done a week ago, all he can think about is how Jisung is so close, that they now share a living space with each other.

It might be weird, but it’s also nice. Minho hasn’t been a fan of living alone for these past weeks, even though he hates admitting it.

This will be good.

-

It takes Jisung until midnight to realize that he is very, very dumb.

Hyunjin, one of his best friends from high school, has been living in his house for about a year and a half, ever since they both started college. The other hadn’t wanted to room with a stranger, and since Jisung was living at home, they asked Jisung’s parents if they were okay with Hyunjin living at their place, which they were.

Since college started, they both shared Jisung’s old bedroom, the only change being that there was one more bed in the room now. At some point last year, when Jisung’s mental health first was deteriorating, they started sharing a bed.

It’s not until now that Jisung realizes that he hasn’t slept alone in almost a year.

Sure, his mental health is a lot better than when he and Hyunjin first started sharing a bed, but the nightmares... Whenever he shares a bed with someone, it’s as if their mere presence is enough to keep the nightmares out of his head, but as soon as he’s on his own, it’s the only type of dream his mind can conjure.

Jisung closes his computer screen with a sigh. He’s been studying for their psychology test for the past hour or so and was just about to go to sleep, but now he’s not sure.

Hyunjin is sharing a dorm with Seungmin and Jeongin, two of their other friends, and has been for the past week now. Though, he’s still been sleeping at Sungie’s house, even though all of his stuff has been gone. That’s the only reason Jisung's been able to sleep this past week.

Jisung doesn’t really know what to do. He can’t very well go over to their dorm and sleep there forever, not if he’s living here. There’s no doubt that Hyunjin would sleep in Jisung’s bed every night if he asked him, but he can’t ask, not now. He knows they won’t live together forever, so he might as well get used to that.

Jisung has no idea how he’s been able to forget about such a big issue up until now, but he has. He really doesn’t want to sleep.

With another deep sigh, Jisung gets up from the floor, replacing the computer in his hands with a notebook and grabbing a blanket from the bed before heading out to the living room. Minho is most likely asleep, or at least he’ll stay in his room, but Jisung doesn’t really want to stay in his own.

Just like expected, the living room is empty when he enters. Jisung settles down on the couch with the blanket wrapped around him, leaning the notebook against his bent legs as he brings out a pen to start drawing.

It’s going to be a long night if he doesn’t sleep. Hopefully, with the help of his pen and a paper, it won’t be insufferable.

-

Jisung is still working on his drawing when the door to Minho’s room opens half an hour later. At first, the boy doesn’t look up, but then Minho sits down next to him, and he finally does. His eyes are slightly dazed as they land on the older.

“Aren’t you going to bed?” Minho asks. He’s wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, making it seem like he’s about to go to sleep.

“Soon”, he says vaguely, not wanting to keep the other up or bother him with his problems.

Minho doesn’t seem to be thinking the same, though, as he leans back on the couch and hums. They sit like that for a few moments, neither of them speaking, before Minho looks over at Jisung’s open notebook. Jisung’s first instinct is to pull it away, out of sight, but instead he just observes Minho’s expression as his eyes trace the blue ink.

“Why is he sad?” Minho asks softly, clearly referring to the boy in the drawing. He meets Jisung’s eyes. “The one you drew in our lecture was sad, as well.”

Jisung shrugs and looks down at his lap.

“I dunno. Normal reasons, I guess.”

Minho seems to accept that Jisung doesn’t want to say anything about it, but he makes a hum to show that he’s heard him.

“What are normal reasons? For any emotion, I mean. Like, if two people look at a painting of a cat, one of them might get really happy because he loves cats, but the other person could get really sad because the cat in the picture is alone. Who decides how we react to things?”

Minho isn’t looking at Jisung as he talks, and the younger figures that he’s mostly thinking out loud. It’s interesting, though, what he says.

It also makes him question why he shouldn’t just be honest with Minho about why he’s awake. Sure, they aren’t that close, but the only way to get close is by opening up about shit. Not that he’s under any obligation to say it right now, but maybe he shouldn’t feel like he needs permission to tell the truth if he wants to.

“I’m scared of sleeping”, Jisung says before he can think more about it.

There. It’s out now. Out in the open for Minho to hear and process and dissect and think about, even judge him for. Jisung doesn’t want to be judged, but he can’t exactly decide for others.

He doesn’t look at the older, but he can feel Minho’s eyes on him. Thinking, judging.

Then, the other speaks up.

“So I was right”, Minho says, and this makes Jisung turn his eyes to him. He stares at the other with a question in his eyes, one that Minho is fast to answer. “I kinda got the vibes that you’re avoiding something by sitting out here.”

Maybe he hasn’t been as subtle as he wants to. At least Minho isn’t reacting negatively right now, the thoughtful expression still on his face from earlier. Jisung wishes he knew what he’s thinking.

“I guess I am”, he mumbles, closing the notebook on his lap as it seems like he won’t be continuing with that at the moment. Minho glances at him curiously.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why can’t you sleep? Or, why are you afraid of it?”

Jisung picks at his sleeves as he answers.

“Nightmares.”

He doesn’t want to go into detail, but he might as well keep being honest now that he’s started. Nightmares are normal, right? It’s not like he’s the first person in the world to struggle with having nightmares.

Minho hums again, and Jisung briefly wonders how he can be so casual about this.

“How do you usually sleep?”

Minho doesn’t appear to find this weird, and that helps Jisung relax a little.

“Uh, I’m used to sharing a room with another person… I guess I’ve just been depending on other people to help me sleep.”

When Jisung looks up at Minho’s face, there’s something unreadable in the other boy’s expression. Something curious, maybe thoughtful in his eyes as he watches Jisung.

“Do you think it would help if you sleep in my room?” Minho then asks. There’s some hesitance in his voice, but not because he doesn’t want Jisung to say yes. More that he doesn’t want to weird Jisung out by offering.

The younger has no such thoughts. He hadn’t thought Minho would suggest this, didn’t really consider it as a possibility when he confessed to his sleeping issues, but now that he thinks about it, Jisung finds that he wouldn’t mind.

His face must look a lot more conflicted than his thoughts are, because Minho continues.

“It’s really no problem, and my bed is big enough so we don’t even have to touch, if you don’t want that. And, uh, I realize that we’re not on that level yet, but I really don’t mind, if you need it…”

He stops when he sees Jisung smiling softly at him.

“Hyung, you’re rambling.”

“Am not!”

“Okay, then.” There’s silence for a few seconds. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Yes.”

Minho stands from the couch, pushing himself up before turning around and holding out a hand to pull Jisung up, too. The other boy takes it, leaving his pen and notebook laying on the couch as the older pulls him along toward his bedroom.

The room is not as messy as Jisung’s usually is, though there are some textbooks and homework sheets scattered across the floor. Not that Jisung minds. It probably won’t take more than a week before his own room looks like someone’s been playing hide and seek with all of his stuff.

As soon as they enter the room, it becomes clear that the bed, just like Minho said, is big enough to comfortably fit them both. It doesn’t make Jisung less nervous about this whole thing, though that does make it better.

“You really don’t mind? I could sleep on the floor”, Jisung makes one final attempt at convincing Minho, because he truly doesn’t want the older to do anything he’s not actually comfortable with.

Minho gives him A Look.

“Jisungie”, he says, “I’m sure. Now stop worrying about this, neither of us mind it, so it’s fine.”

Jisung realizes that Minho is still holding his hand from when he pulled him up from the couch, but even after the realization, he doesn’t let go.

They’ve both stopped in front of the bed, and suddenly it seems like this monumental obstacle to overcome, simply getting in bed. At least it does to Jisung. Minho clearly doesn’t agree.

First, he pulls Jisung closer to the bed. He gives the younger’s hand a gentle squeeze before untangling them from each other so that he can walk around to the other side, leaving Jisung to stand there looking uncertain for a few seconds.

After seeing Minho getting in without hesitation, Jisung does the same, albeit a lot more carefully. It’s not that it's awkward, just unusual, but at least Jisung is tired. Tired enough that he’ll probably fall asleep pretty fast, which is good.

“You’re really good at drawing.”

Minho’s voice is quiet, as if he doesn't want to disturb the silence anymore than he has to.

“Thanks, but I mean, I had to be good at drawing to get in.”

Jisung matches the volume of Minho’s voice. For some reason, when it’s just the two of them late at night in the darkness, every word they speak feels like it’s just a bit deeper, a bit more meaningful than it would have been in the daylight. Might also have something to do with the fact that they’re sharing a bed at the moment.

There’s some rustling of the covers as Minho turns around, but Jisung doesn’t look at him.

“What do you mean?” the older asks, genuinely confused. “Why would you have to be good at drawing to get into college?”

At this, Jisung turns to face him.

They’ve had conversations before. When they first met in the lecture hall, later in the music studio, at the cafe after school, but they haven't thought to talk about basic information. Like college majors for example.

Jisung knows the last three books Minho read, his favorite album at the moment, and has way too much information about his two cats, but not what Minho’s college major is. Minho clearly doesn’t know his, either.

“I’m an art major”, Jisung says softly, explaining his previous statement about having to be good at art to get into college.

He barely manages to make out Minho widening his eyes in the darkness.

“Oh, wow, I didn’t know that. That’s cool.”

“What about you, hyung?”

“Me? I wanna be a veterinarian, so I'm in veterinary medicine.”

Jisung hums. He can easily picture Minho as a veterinarian, it actually suits him quite well. Soonie and Doongie are enough proof for that.

“Wait”, he stops to think. “Then why do you have classes in psychology?”

“Honestly, I just thought it was interesting, so I decided I might as well minor in it.”

“Same here.”

They don’t have a lot more to say after that, and silence falls over the room once more. He can still hear Minho’s softs breath just a small distance from his own face, probably much closer than he should be okay with for someone he just moved in with today, but again, none of them mind.

“Goodnight hyung.”

“Goodnight Sungie.”

-

Jisung’s body seems to have better memory than his brain, because he jerks awake at nine in the morning, which on a normal Saturday would be way too early. Today, he wakes up worried about whether or not he’s overslept, considering he didn’t set an alarm.

Breakfast with his parents. That’s today.

Minho is still sound asleep on the other side of the bed, so Jisung tries not to jostle the mattress too much when he gets out from under the covers. The other doesn’t wake up, so he considers it a success.

After another glance toward Minho, Jisung walks over toward the door quickly, still careful to not make any noise. He doesn’t close the door completely but leaves it ajar before hurrying over to his own room in the search of a towel and some clean clothes.

Their shared bathroom is right next to Minho’s room, so Jisung hopes the older isn’t a light sleeper. He doesn’t want to wake him up unnecessarily early just because he has to shower.

With the slight stress of being late looming above him, Jisung doesn’t think much about how this is the first time he showers in this dorm, or literally anything else about how all of this is so new. He just rushes through his morning routine.

It’s 9:20 by the time he’s dressed and considers himself ready to leave, only now he doesn’t know where his phone is.

Did he leave it in the living room last night? Nope. It’s not on his desk, and not in any of his bags, either. He tries to remember where he saw it last, and if he brought it with or not when he went to...

Minho’s room. On the bedside table, where he put it right before climbing in under the covers last night (or earlier today depending on how you see it).

Jisung takes a breath before pushing the door open again, finding his way to the bedside table with the light spilling in from the hallway outside.

His phone is there, screen facing up, and he’s just about to turn around to leave again when there’s movement coming from the bed.

“Hmph… Jisungie?”

Minho sounds like he just woke up, which, considering that's what he just did, is pretty accurate.

“Sorry for waking you”, Jisung says softly, making a grimace that he’s pretty sure the older one won’t be able to see as he squints against the light coming from the open door behind him. “I forgot I was having breakfast with my parents today. Or, like, in ten minutes.”

“Ah, okay.” Minho doesn’t appear like he’s about to get up. It looks more like he’s gonna go back to sleep, but Jisung still decides to ask, if only to be nice after everything the older has done for him.

“Do you want me to bring you back anything?”

Minho lifts his head again. His eyes are squinting, either because of the light or because he’s thinking over the question, Jisung doesn’t know.

“I’m fine. I’ll have something before you get back.”

Sounds like a lie.

The younger boy snickers.

“Okay, I’m gonna call you when I’m done with my parents, and if you don’t respond I’ll assume you’ve gone back to sleep and that I should bring you breakfast.”

He doesn’t give Minho a chance to argue with that before turning around and leaving the room, the last sound being the front door closing behind him.

Literally no one is surprised when Minho doesn’t answer Jisung’s call about forty minutes later, so just like promised, he brings back breakfast.

It’s one of the nicest mornings Minho has had in a while.


	3. Chapter 3

Things at the dorm fall into a routine fairly easily. It takes a bit of time, like everything does, but within a few weeks, their lives have become perfectly intertwined with each other’s.

Jisung starts earlier than Minho most days, so he always leaves coffee for the older to grab when he eventually wakes up.

Minho sleeps on the right side of his bed, Jisung on the left.

The younger boy drops pens all around the dorm, so Minho always leaves them on the kitchen counter when he finds them, knowing that Jisung will see them there.

Things like that are habits at this point.

Even when they’re not at home or hanging out with each other, they message and snapchat a lot.

Minho is currently walking back to the dorm building after his last class of the day, taking his phone from his pocket to see two new messages from Jisung. One was sent half an hour ago, in the middle of his class, and the other ten minutes after that.

 **jisung** : ohmygod i hate life everything sucks i just wanna get murdered in an alley under mysterious circumstances.  
**jisung** : nevermind that last text lol my assignment wasn't as bad as i thought it would be

Minho grins at the screen, but doesn’t reply since he’ll be at the dorm in a few minutes anyway. Honestly, today has been a really dull day, but just like that, he’s grinning again. It’s strange how emotions work.

Just as expected, the door is unlocked when he reaches their dorm. Minho distantly hears music playing and assumes that it’s coming from Jisung’s room.

“I’m back!” he shouts, shrugging his jacket off as he walks inside.

Jisung isn’t in the living room, but the door to his room is closed, so that confirms where he is. Minho throws his jacket on the couch before walking up to the door and knocking.

The music pauses, then there are some more shuffling sounds before the door opens just enough for Jisung to stick his head out. His hair is adorably messy and there’s a bit of smudged blue paint on his cheek. He smiles at Minho, and it makes his whole face light up.

“Well, you’re a mess”, Minho comments jokingly, trying to ignore how good the boy actually looks. He’s definitely a mess, but it’s in the best possible way.

Jisung continues to grin.

“Yeah, I know.” He opens the door more before stepping outside and quickly pulls it closed behind him, not giving Minho a chance to catch a glimpse of what he’s doing in there. This makes the boy raise his eyebrows at him. “What? You can’t see my project, I’m not done with it yet.”

“Is it for art class?” Minho asks. The other nods. “Okay, I won’t snoop, but can I see it when it’s finished? The only times I’ve seen you draw are when you’re sketching in your notebook.”

“Sure, that’s fine”, Jisung says. “Uh, hyung, do you wanna go out somewhere?”

Since he doesn’t have any other plans today, Minho agrees.

“Let me just change my clothes, and then we can leave.”

Jisung smiles again.

-

They go to the same cafe they usually visit, but this time, they take their orders to-go. Jisung says he wants to spend some time outside after being holed up in his bedroom painting the entire afternoon and Minho doesn’t mind, so that’s what they do.

At first, they walk around aimlessly, talking about nothing in particular. It’s always like that when he’s with Jisung. They can talk even when they don’t really have a topic to talk about, but they can also sit in complete silence and still be completely content with being together.

After a while of walking, they come across an empty bench under a tree and decide to sit down. They both sit in silence, simply watching the world around them.

Minho is only pulled back to the present when Jisung speaks.

“Hyung, I have an assignment and I need to photograph someone for it. So, uh, can I maybe take a picture of you?”

He turns to find the younger already looking at him, cheeks slightly tinted from the cold air.

“I mean, sure”, Minho says, not being sure at all. Of course he’s willing to let Jisung take a picture of him, would have been even if it wasn’t for class, but he also kind of wonders why Jisung is asking him of all people. He could have asked Changbin, or Chan, or Hyunjin or Felix or any of the other people he’s known for much longer than he’s known Minho.

Jisung seems happy with his answer, though, putting his cup down next to him on the bench before reaching for his phone.

“Thanks! You can just look where you were just looking and try to pretend that there’s not a camera right next to you.”

Minho grins at this, but does as he's told. He finds it a bit awkward, being at the center of attention, but he doesn’t mind it all that much when it’s Jisung’s attention.

Strange.

It’s only a few seconds before Jisung is speaking up again.

“You look really good, hyung.”

Minho turns back to Jisung. He doesn’t know how to take that, doesn’t know how Jisung meant it, but he smiles softly at the boy since he can hear the sincerity in Jisung’s voice.

They sit in silence for some moments, doing nothing but looking at each other, until the intensity becomes too much and Jisung looks away. Minho keeps looking at him for a bit longer, noticing how his cheeks are a little more pink now.

“Oh!” Minho breaks the silence by exclaiming, causing Jisung to look back at him. “Actually, I have to take someone’s blood pressure for class, so will you be victim?”

Jisung giggles at this.

“Victim? That doesn’t sound too good.”

Minho shrugs.

“I don’t know how good it is, to be fair. I couldn’t even find my own pulse earlier, so who knows, I might come to the conclusion that none of us have a pulse and we’re both actually dead.”

“I’m sure your teacher would love that”, Jisung comments. Minho rolls his eyes, but there’s a small smile on his face even as he does it.

“Does that mean I can try taking your pulse?”

The other boy gives him a nod.

“As long as I still have a pulse when you’re done, then yeah. Do you want my wrist?”

“That sounds kinky.” Jisung makes a grimace, and Minho laughs. “Sorry, I’m joking. Yeah, give me your wrist.”

Jisung pulls up his sleeve slightly before holding his arm out for the older, and Minho carefully takes Jisung’s hand in his own before placing his thumb over the vein.

“Can you use your other hand to set a timer for fifteen seconds?” he asks, and Jisung brings his phone out again to do so. “Tell me when you start it.”

He’s not sure he’s actually found the pulse yet, but whatever.

“Start.”

Minho tries to feel for a pulse, and manages to count a few times, but it’s not regular in the slightest. It seems like a lot less than fifteen seconds have passed when Jisung tells him the timer is finished, and Minho slowly lets go of his hand.

“So? Did you find a pulse?”

Minho hates how the younger is already grinning at him, as if expecting to hear that he has no pulse.

“Sorry, no good news.”

“Oh no, doctor, am I dying?”

Minho gives Jisung a serious look.

“Sorry to tell you this, but according to my very professional examination, you’re already dead.”

“ _Oh, man! That’s so sad_ ”, Jisung says dramatically, switching to English as he speaks. The sentence is simple enough that Minho understands, but he still raises his eyebrows, surprised to hear Jisung speak another language.

Jisung must notice the question in Minho’s eyes, because he explains.

“Oh, yeah, I speak English. I learned it when I lived in Malaysia.”

“Wait, isn’t that where your parents just moved?” Minho questions.

“We moved there the first time when I was in middle school. My family moved back when I started college, but now they’re moving again for my dad’s job.”

Before Minho can respond, Jisung continues. “Can we go back to the dorm? I’m kinda cold.”

“I told you you should have worn warmer clothes”, Minho tells him as he stands from the bench, holding a hand out to pull Jisung up. Not that he’s actually upset, but the other should take better care of himself.

“Guess you’ll just have to hold my hand to keep me warm, then”, Jisung says with a slightly teasing tone.

Since Minho just pulled him up from the bench, they’re already holding hands, but Minho looks Jisung right in the eyes and strengthens his grip on the younger, making it clear that yes, he’s gonna hold his hand now. Jisung only seems slightly surprised by Minho’s determination to hold his hand, but after all, he’s the one who suggested it.

They both like it.

-

Minho rolls over in his bed, reaching for his phone to see what time it is right now. Almost three in the morning. With a sigh, he turns on his back again, looking at the dark ceiling above him.

There are sounds coming from the kitchen. He’s pretty sure Jisung just dropped a pan or something, and the noise it made is what woke Minho up, but he hasn’t been out to check on the younger yet.

Jisung didn't go to bed last night. He told Minho that he was just going to work a bit more on his assignment and that he would come after finishing it, but that was four hours ago.

Minho sits up and kicks away the covers, putting his feet on the floor with a yawn. He adjusts his shirt before standing up and walking toward the door that’s still ajar from how he left it last night, thinking that Jisung was going to show up at some point.

The light is on in the kitchen. Minho stops in the door frame to look at what’s happening, and sees Jisung as he bends down in front of the oven.

“What are you doing?” Minho asks, stifling another yawn. Jisung doesn’t look up at him.

“I’m making cookies. Do you want some?”

Minho ignores the question and walks further into the kitchen, sliding up on a chair by the counter, eyes still on Jisung who’s just getting the cookies out of the oven.

“At three in the morning? I thought you were going to sleep.”

Jisung shrugs, or he does his best to with the plate in his hands. He turns around and puts it down on the counter between them before closing the oven and looking at Minho for the first time since he came in here.

“I really don’t feel like sleeping”, Jisung says carefully, walking around so that he can sit down on the chair next to Minho’s. Minho simply hums to let the boy know that he’ll listen. “I can’t really say why, but I really, really don’t wanna sleep. And I’m sorry for waking you, by the way.”

“It’s fine”, Minho says gently. Honestly, he’s more worried about Jisung not getting any rest than he is about his own interrupted sleep. “Will you be okay?”

Jisung nods, and there’s a small smile on his face when Minho glances at him. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough. Minho leaves it at that.

“So, you do want a cookie?”

Well, he’s already awake, so he might as well join the younger for his three am snack.

Jisung reaches over to grab two cookies before handing one to Minho. It’s still very hot, so the older lets it lay on the table for a little as they talk. Jisung doesn’t seem like he wants to think more about whatever reason he has for not sleeping, so they don’t speak about that. 

“Have you noticed how Chan looks at Chaeyoung?” Jisung asks. There’s a twinkle in his eye as he grins, clearly having something in mind.

“Chaeyoung? You mean the music major?” Minho wonders. He hasn’t known Chan for more than a few weeks, the same time he met Jisung through Changbin, but he would consider Chaeyoung one of his friends.

“Yeah, you know her?”

“I do, we’ve been friends since college started. I haven’t noticed Chan looking at him in any way, but Chaeyoung definitely talks about Chan in some way.”

Jisung’s grin widens, and Minho gives him a meaningful look.

“Whatever you’re thinking right now can’t be good, Sungie.” A pause. “Which is why I think it’s probably a great idea.”

“We should set them up”, Jisung says. A great idea, indeed.

They may not get a lot of sleep that night, but the cookies taste amazing, and it’s always fun to talk about setting up your friends. Minho is once again surprised by how casual things are between them.

Jisung falls asleep on the couch about an hour later, and Minho very carefully puts a blanket over him, not wanting to risk waking Jisung up by carrying him to the bed.

Despite not getting a lot of sleep, it’s one of the best nights in a while.

-

"We have a problem."

Jisung's voice causes Changbin look up from whatever he's doing on his phone. Chan, on the other hand, keeps his eyes on the book that he’s reading. Jisung isn't sure if he wasn't heard or if the older just can't be bothered to deal with this right now.

"Let me guess", Changbin speaks. "You caused it?"

Jisung huffs indignantly at that, deciding to ignore this hyung and instead try his luck with Chan.

"Chan hyung. We have a problem."

"Yeah, no", Chan says and finally looks away from his book, even if it’s only to give Jisung an annoyed look. He raises his eyebrows pointedly as he continues. "You have a problem. I have an idiot who keeps getting into one."

Changbin snorts and resumes his scrolling through his phone, leaving the younger to attempt to get Chan's help with whatever he's gotten himself into now. Jisung should have known how unwilling his hyungs were going to be to help, but oh well.

"Okay, but can you just hear me out?" Chan makes some noncommittal noise that Jisung takes as a sign that Chan will, in fact, hear him out. "So, you see, I promised Chaeyoung noona I was gonna help her with one of her duets, but you see, I just realized I'm not actually available to do that..."

"You're never busy, though", Changbin chimes in, very unhelpfully. Jisung responds by sticking his tongue out at him.

"This time I am! Anyways. Here's why I came to you, my dearest, most favoritest hyung…"

"Favoritest isn't a word", Changbin interrupts again, and this time Jisung makes a move to kick his leg, though he's standing too far away to reach the older. Nonetheless, it makes Changbin pull away slightly, and Jisung smirks at how he's managed to scare the older. The boy glares at Jisung, who smiles innocently.

"Okay, Sung", Chan starts before they can do anything else. "What are you asking?"

"I'm not asking you anything! But if you would like to volunteer and help Chaeyoung noona with her song, that would be greatly appreciated by both me and her."

Jisung smiles sweetly at Chan, trying to hide how desperately he wants the older to say yes to the question he's not asking.

Chan simply sighs, closing his book and putting it aside as he realizes that Jisung is not giving up.

"Okay. When were you supposed to help her with this?"

Jisung blanks for half a second.

"Uh, like, sometime before the winter concert?"

Chan just keeps staring at Jisung, clearly not convinced. Changbin snickers in the background.

"How specific."

To be honest, Jisung hadn't exactly shown up with a plan. Or actually, he had. Only the plan is not very well thought out, hence his problems with answering Chan's questions.

Maybe he should have decided what to say before he came here.

"Yeaah..." Jisung glances around the study room before coming to a decision. "Wait, I need to go check something with her. I'll be back."

He turns and runs off before Chan can even begin to question him.

"We have a problem", Jisung says as soon as he reaches the bench where Minho is seated. They're outside the building, meaning that Chan won't be able to see them, which is good. He shouldn't know that Jisung is conspiring with Minho instead of going to Chaeyoung.

"If you're talking about the fire in the kitchen this morning, that's my solution to yesterday's problem."

"Wait, what was yesterday's problem?" Jisung asks, stopping to stare at his way too calm hyung.

"That the dorm was freezing." Minho furrows his brows in thought. "But that was actually just the consequence to last week's problem, now that I think about it."

"And what was last week's problem?"

Jisung sits down next to Minho, still with his face turned toward him.

"The window broke after I threw a big ass stone at it."

Jisung shakes his head.

"Sometimes I wonder how you even got into college." There's a small smile on his face as he says it.

A second of silence passes before Jisung jumps to sit up straighter, realization on his face.

"Oh! I came because we have a problem." Minho looks at him, amused, as he waits for the other to continue. "Chan is asking too many questions that I can't answer."

"Such as...?" Minho prompts.

"When is he meeting Chaeyoung noona?"

Minho stares at the younger boy. That's a pretty simple question, after all. The only thing Jisung has to do is come up with a believable answer and hope that Chaeyoung is available at that time, and if she isn't, they could just make up something about needing to reschedule it.

"Seriously Sungie?"

Jisung shrugs with a small grimace, understanding that it's not a major issue.

"Well, mostly I just freaked out cause Chan actually looked away from his book."

"Great", Minho comments. "Then maybe don't go back there. Text him or something."

Jisung makes a grimace at that, but agrees.

“So, aside from conspiring against Chan and Chaeyoung, do you have anything to do today?” Minho asks, and Jisung thinks for a few moments before shaking his head ‘no’. “Do you wanna go to the cafe?”

He loves that he doesn’t even have to clarify which cafe he’s talking about before Jisung is saying yes.

Minho stands up from the bench and holds his hand out for Jisung. Just as usual, neither of them let go after he’s pulled the younger up from the bench and they end up walking all the way there with their fingers intertwined.

Minho starts to think that maybe he doesn’t just like this. He actually kind of loves it.

-

“That painting hasn’t been here before”, Minho comments as Jisung places both of their drinks on the small table. He glances up at the painting Minho is talking about, but doesn’t look at it for long. He never seems to do.

“Yeah”, he agrees. “It’s new.”

Minho furrows his brows at how Jisung doesn’t seem interested at all in the new piece of art. For an art major, that’s probably unusual.

Minho pulls out his chair and they sit down opposite each other, Jisung sitting on a bench with his back to the wall, meaning that Minho gets to look at the painting for as much as he wants.

It’s another landscape, and this one consists of surreal shimmering colors, something that’s a mix of pink, orange and yellow hues, covering the sky and giving the impression of a rising or setting sun. Minho is completely entranced by it.

“Like what you see?” Jisung questions with a smug smile on his face. Minho forces his expression to seem unbothered as he raises his eyebrows at the younger.

“What? All the paintings in here are great”, he says. He genuinely means that, you don’t have to be an art major to notice that all of them are done well. Aside from that, they also contribute to the atmosphere of the cafe.

He looks up to see Jisung smiling down into his cup, as if he’s pleased that Minho likes the painting so much, which Minho isn’t sure makes sense, but that’s how it seems.

Jisung meets his eyes with a smile still on his face.

“This one”, he gestures to the painting behind him, “is meant to symbolise hope for change. The sun is setting, things are changing, which can be scary, but it brings out the beautiful colors in the world. Everything’s all shimmery and pretty.”

It’s quiet for a few seconds as Minho looks at the painting again, this time thinking about Jisung’s explanation at the same time. The younger waits for him to say something.

“You got that just from looking at it?” Minho asks, though he suspects that’s not it.

Jisung doesn’t look up at him.

“I earn money by selling paintings to the owner of this cafe. At first, it was only one, but then he thought it would be a good idea to have matching ones in the cafe and apparently he liked my style, plus it wasn’t as expensive as buying from a real artist.”

Minho has to blink several time before he understands what that means.

“Wait”, he then says. “You painted all of these?”

Jisung only nods, clearly not seeing how impressed Minho is with all of the art in this cafe. Has been since the first time they came here.

“Jisung, they’re amazing.” He can’t explain it with words, but something changes in the air between them when Jisung lifts his face to meet Minho’s eyes. There's a strange sort of intensity between them. “Really. I love all of them. You’re great..”

They look at each other. Jisung opens his mouth as if he’s about to speak, but then closes it again, and Minho finds himself staring at the younger’s lips. He vaguely remembers noting that they form a heart whenever he smiles, though he’s not smiling at the moment, so he probably shouldn’t be thinking about how his lips look, how they feel...

“Hyung”, Jisung says, his voice not much louder than a whisper. Minho hums. “Can I-…”

He trails off.

“Can you what?” Minho feels strangely disconnected from his own voice as he asks. The younger seems hesitant for some reason, but instead of backing out or laughing it off, he finished the question.

“Can I kiss you?”

Minho’s mind needs a second to process the question, but when it finally does, his body is already rising from his seat and he’s walking around to Jisung’s side of the table. He sits down on the bench next to the other, eyes never leaving the boy’s face.

“Yes.”

Jisung doesn’t need to hear it twice.

They both lean forward at the same time, until their lips meet and it’s simultaneously the softest thing ever while also being the most intense thing Minho thinks he’s ever felt. The other tastes like the tea he’s drinking, sweet and soft. Neither of them can think much except for _holy shit is this actually happening?_ To be frank, Minho’s not so sure he’s not dreaming.

He lifts a hand and cups Jisung’s face gently, letting the kiss linger a moment longer before pulling back and leaning their foreheads together.

“Holy shit”, Jisung whispers. Minho agrees. They stay with their foreheads together like that while trying to recover enough from the onslaught of emotions to actually be able to form coherent sentences. It’s a good thing there’s not many other people in the cafe, otherwise they would have the whole kissing-in-public aspect to worry about. This is still technically in public, but no one is here to see, so they’re not worried.

Minho finally pulls back from Jisung, only enough to be able to look him in the eyes. If possible, he looks even better this close.

“Does this mean I get to call you my boyfriend?” he asks, voice surprisingly strong considering he feels like his entire body just turned to jelly.

Jisung’s heart-shaped smile is slightly flushed, probably from having Minho’s lips on him just moment ago, but it’s the prettiest thing Minho has seen, he’s sure of it.

“Yeah”, he says. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the end, but it's also not the end because i have something else written for this universe... i'll probably make this a series and post that as a separate work in the series..
> 
> thank you for reading <3


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